Town of Wheatfield: Quasar, noise dominate meeting

Wheatfield residents
were not pleased, and they let the Town Board know it in a lengthy meeting
Monday.

The majority of the
crowd was there to continue a quest from previous meetings to find a way to
block Quasar from distributing its equate product as fertilizer for farmers'
fields.

A smaller group
complained about noise from a junkyard that was making them prisoners in their
own homes.

In the Quasar matter,
the board approved a public hearing for 7 p.m. April 28 on a proposed law to
establish a six-month moratorium on the disposal and storage of sludge, sewage
sludge, septic waste and derivative products within Wheatfield, pending
revision of the town's solid waste and recycling law.

Supervisor Bob Cliffe
told residents that he has done extensive reading and research from the very
beginning when the Ohio-based Quasar asked to build its anaerobic digestion
facility on Liberty Drive to create methane gas from waste that would otherwise
go to landfills. Equate is what is leftover after digestion. Quasar is
currently seeking to build a 5 million gallon equate storage tank on its
Liberty Drive property.

"I don't work for Quasar,
I work for you," Cliffe told residents at the meeting.

He said the moratorium
would give the town and its residents time to get all questions answered. He
suggested an independent third party is needed to provide answers to the many
questions about equate and its storage and application as farm fertilizer.

Quasar has already
returned its answers to questions presented by the board and residents at
previous meetings to Planning Board Chairman Richard Muscatello, Cliffe said.

The main objection by residents seems to
be the use of leftover human sewage from sewer treatment plants in the
digestion process. They are worried about pathogens from sewage sludge possibly
showing up in equate used for fertilizer and affecting farmlands, crops and
nearby neighborhoods. They also are concerned about possible seepage from the
plant to the Niagara River.

Monica Daigler, representing the
Wheatfield Lakes area, presented 150 more signatures to her petition against
Quasar. Last meeting, she brought in 200 signatures.

Resident Helene Petrakis brought in 236
signatures on her petition and said people she approached were eager to sign.

"The general consensus is Western New
York, Niagara County has had enough toxic waste in our community," she said.

William Kraft of Lewiston's Residents
Against Lagoons attended the meeting to support the Wheatfield residents. He
said sewage can come from places like hospitals and mortuaries to treatment
plants - "You have no control over what people are putting into the waste
stream."

He said Lewiston many years ago wrote
tough laws that he expects will prevent Quasar from starting up equate
application lagoons in his town.

"You can shut them down," he said. "You
can prevent the spreading and use of this (equate) in your town."

Fred Mallone led a group of residents who
live near the junkyard at Mapleton and Townline roads in asking that the town
do something about the noise. Yes, the junkyard existed before their homes were
built, but now the junkyard is using a dyno machine on motors that is so loud
it shakes the windows, he said.

"The junkyard was there, not the noise,"
he said, noting that a test of the noise reveals it is over town code. "If I
had an unregistered vehicle next to my house, somebody would be knocking on my
door."

He also played a recording of the noise
for the board.

Allen Richards Jr. spoke on behalf of his
father-in-law John Grabowski, longtime nearby resident of the junkyard. He said
his father-in-law has come home to find his wife locked inside crying because
of the noise.

"It is affecting quality of life," he
said. "I genuinely feel sorry for anybody who lives within a quarter of a mile
of it. The noise is unbearable."

Cliffe agreed and asked that Building
Inspector Mike Klock and town constables look into the matter. He visited the
Mallone home on Sunday and said the loud, droning of the machine at the
junkyard is "like sitting at the Lancaster Speedway during speed trials."

In other matters:

•Councilman Larry Helwig announced that
the board has been notified by Budget Director Ed Mongold that the town's
revenues exceeded expenses in 2013 for the fourth year in a row.

Cliffe said his policy, which is being
followed by department heads and employees, has been not to spend all the money
allotted in the budget. In addition, increases in sales tax revenues have
enabled the town to avoid adding taxes and still provide services residents
want, he said.

•Klock reported that fire and safety
inspections are beginning at town businesses. "Even businesses that have never
seen us are going to start seeing us," the new building inspector said.

•Recreation Director Mike Ranalli noted
that the next Wheatfield Senior Dance will be at 4 p.m. April 5 at the
Community Center. Sign-up is required. Call Gail at 694-8504. In addition, the
town's annual Easter party is set for 10 a.m. to noon April 12.

•Town Clerk Kathleen Harrington-McDonell
reminded residents that the last date before late taxes are turned over to the
county is March 31.